Exploring the Ely and Taff Rivers

Bloater

Bloater

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Hi,

As I am now able to get under some of the bridges in the Cardiff Bay area (I've no longer got a 55ft mast) I had a little venture on Saturday up the Rivers Ely and Taff.

I got a bit unsure as to how far I could go up these rivers as there is little indication of usage by boats and I chickened out when my depth sounder said 1.9m.

Having looked at Google Earth I don't think there's much to gain from the Ely but I was wondering how far you can go up the Taff - can you get to the stadium for instance?

Anybody touched bottom?

Ian
 
Bloater said:
Hi,
<snip>
Having looked at Google Earth I don't think there's much to gain from the Ely but I was wondering how far you can go up the Taff - can you get to the stadium for instance?
<snip>
Ian
Click to expand...

In the late 90's I saw a water-skier pass the stadium. He, obviously,
only "draws" inches but his tug would need a bit more. A 'lead-line'
from the adjacent bridges might be a good start for a survey followed
by a small Inflatable with marked pole. But Hey! Wouldn't someone in
Cardiff City Council Offices or HM's Office have a (very) large-scale chart?
Doug/Jekeeda II
 
We took the speedboat up as far as Ely bridge (nice on a hot day) but it did get shallow and the Taff as far as the stadium , well just past but after that you have a wier.Go slow unlike i did , there are shopping trolleys and stuff in there! I was doing about 50knts though.
 
I walked from CYC to the central station last night. It was difficult to see properly but the rail bridge just downstream from the stadium looked to have road type no entry signs over the spans.
Allan
 
I'm sure there is a ferry stop by the boardwalk adjacent to the Millenium(?) Stadium

We've been up as far as the road bridge, the stone one, but not much to see.

Rather be able to zoom about!
 
My son and I were up the river Taff as far as the stadium in October. We were in our small tender. The “no entry” signs are over some of the spans approaching the stadium but not all. We went through blank one and found a no entry sign on the opposite approach. The “No Entry” signs were over different spans approaching from the stadium so we returned under a different span.

Anyway some photos we took whilst up there.
 
Hi, I've explored both rivers quite thoroughly by tender. You can go up the Taff to just past the Millenium Stadium where there is a Water Taxi stop within the castle grounds. We've often tied up to the inner side of this pontoon and left the tender for a picnic in the castle grounds - not sure of the Harbour Authority position on doing this, but being on the inside of the pontoon it's not in anyones way. We usually padlock the engine to the boat and use a cycle lock to secure the tender to the pontoon, and haven't had a problem - I've even gone into Cardiff shopping! If you continue beyond this pontoon the depth disappears to a few inches after only around 100m.

The Ely is deep enough for quite some distance. You can get up almost as far as Ely itself, but theres a wier near Victoria Park which stops futher progress. However your boat would need to be fairly small to get under the old Leckwith bridge which is right next to the Leckwith exit of the link road (about 2m air draft and 2.5m wide). I've taken a motor boat with a 1.2m draught as far as this bridge with no depth problems. However I believe I saw a NTM stating that access up the Ely would be restricted during April and May due to the building of the footbridge near the Cardiff Marina (that bridge with the silly Welsh name).
 
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I Took my rubber boat up the Ely last summer up as far as the old leckwith bridge,i was told not to go any further as there are lots of stuff dumped in off this bridge and it gets quite shallow there,but it was quite pretty once you get past that new crane out thing on the bend,lots of wild life in the bushes and on the banks.
I went up the Taff as far as the last water bus stop near the castle,my outboat a s/sTohtso 3.5hp touched bottom on a ridge just past the stop so we turned back,
The Ely is by Far the prettiest i think.
 
Allan said:
I walked from CYC to the central station last night. It was difficult to see properly but the rail bridge just downstream from the stadium looked to have road type no entry signs over the spans.
Allan
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that the road type no entry signs on the rail bridge over the Taff are used to mark the only two spans through which there is enough depth to navigate. The one is designated for going up stream and the other for downstream. Simple use the only arch you can see without a no entry sign.
It is a pitty they chose to use road signs - but at least that makes them in my opion totally optional! There are also small arches within each tunnel (you may have to go there to see what I mean!) and it can be quite good fun for the kids, and a good skills test, to weave through these smaller arches in and out of the various spans of the bridge - assuming you're in a small enough boat!
 
I drove up to Force 4 today and went past the Cardiff Marina Dry stack (on the Ely). There were a few large cruisers out of the water there so it's obvious that I could have got up that far if I had thought about it.

I think I might go for a row up there one day in the dinghy. I haven't got a motor yet on this dinghy so it's a long way to row from Penarth Marina - but at least I will only draw a few inches!
 
Not sure if they are still there but last year we took kayaks up the Ely and on one of the bends there is a creek. Up there we found terrapins or turtles whatever they were. You can see the creek from the dual carrage way coming down from the M4.(looks a bit like going into the Amazon)
 
When I visited the bay last year I asked barrage control about this. I believe they monitor the river depth on the Taff up to the stadium, possibly beyond. They suggested that I should have no trouble taking mine up that far. Maybe worth asking them about it.
 
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